


Sinner Like Me

by ghostbusters



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-14 00:36:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1246135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostbusters/pseuds/ghostbusters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me. But the arms of the ocean delivered me"<br/>a hopeful, sentimental ending where the battles are over. they've finally made it to the ocean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sinner Like Me

They could sense the presence ahead, where the trees tapered off and the dirt faded into sand. The impossible had been overcome only a few months before. Gradual success and long fights led humanity to victory. The world stood still at peace.

A soft but persistent sound could be heard in the nearing distance. Those at the head of the group called back to slow down. They listened. They heard the sure sound of waves crashing, audible now as hooves were muffled on the sand. That place they'd been searching for was waiting just over those small hills in front of them. Someone rode ahead and their telling gasp gave way to curious murmurs and burning excitement.

The blue expanse before them rivaled the beauty of the sky on clear and calm days. It was deeper and darker and demanded the respect of an awed stare. One specific soldier-turned-explorer sat wordless on his horse, ocean reflected in his shining eyes. The golden haired dreamer dismounted and willed his shaking legs to move, but not run. He was immobilized against the reality of a dream that captivated him ever since he had the capacity of holding onto a dream. He'd defied every odd stacked against him. He'd made it. He was alive.

No one spoke at first, unwilling to be the first to ruin the serene moment. Armin found strength in his journey tired legs and headed forward to the water. That golden youth, technically a youth no more, climbed down the dune and walked like a man possessed, eyes wide and mouth agape. He cast aside his hooded cape and then his jacket, pausing in his tranced stroll only to yank off his boots and socks as well. The first wonderful feeling of hot sand on his feet made him let go of the breath he'd been holding. 

He continued his path to the water like a lover returned home from war. The sentiment wasn't too far off.

Others had dismounted their horses as well by this point, not all with as much reverence and tact as Armin as they sprinted to the sea with laughter and excited chatter. Armin smiled as his comrades tripped over each other and tangled together in laughing piles on the sand.

“It's even better than we imagined,” Eren whispered as he looked on, sitting next to Mikasa on a dune. His rush out to the surf would come later. He was tired, simply worn out after the long years, far more exhausted than any human being should ever have to feel. Sitting on the dune felt like the first deep breath he'd taken in years, exhaled to the wind to mix with the free calls of circling gulls above. Mikasa said nothing. Her eyes were set ahead on the place where sea met sky with tears in her eyes.

“Do you think he's going to be ok?” Jean asked as he stumbled and climbed over the dune. He watched Armin fall to his knees where the waves broke over the shore. He was transfixed in wonder over the clash of power before him easing into the gentle ebb and flow of the shallows.

“He's fine. We're all fine,” Eren mumbled, absently trailing sand through his fingers. He had a crazed look in his eyes, strange and unsettling against the scenery of calm but still so much different than the unquenchable blood lust that once filled those eyes. “It's finally all over.”

Jean moved on, leaving the small remnants of a torn family to share in their quiet moment together. He stumbled more as his feet sunk into the hot sand, taking a cue from Armin in shedding his boots and other gear. He enjoyed the drag of his bare feet across the pleasant scratch of sand. It was warm between his toes, inviting in a way the bitter sting of snow could never be with its coldness. He laughed to himself at the memory of racing barefoot through the snow near the barracks, back when they were still naive trainees with little more to care about than stupid rivalries and dares created out of boredom. The sand's warmth only spurred on his rapidly beating heart. That expanse of blue water stretched out before him was a pretty view, sure, but the man wracked with sobs close by was captivating in a way that no spectacle of nature could ever compare.

He collapsed against Armin, knees soaked in the flow and retreat of the tide. His battle built arms wrapped around the smaller body coughing through wild laughter. Armin grasped tight to those strong arms, those same arms that held him close on nights where guilt and terror filled nightmares woke them both. His hands were gritty from wet sand, cold gripping fingers anchoring him to the man he never wanted to let go.

“Sometimes I honestly thought I'd never get to see this,” Armin finally said with a raspy, cried-out voice. Jean wiped the tear tracks from reddened cheeks.

“You're here. It's real and you made it.”

“ _We're_ here.”

He rose slowly, grabbing Jean's hand to wade further together into the waves. The water was cold but it was a welcome feeling against their legs, sore and tired from long days of riding across the countryside. Others around them were splashing and laughing with abandon along the shoreline. Armin called out with delight as he watched his best friend tear down the beach and promptly flop into the surf. Even Jean had to laugh hysterically at Eren's ridiculous antics.

Mikasa trailed behind him, stopping at the place where the wet sand met the dry with a slight, soft smile. She nodded to where their leaders stood watch over their soldiers darting around the beach, meeting eyes in calm acknowledgment. The commander and his corporal linked hands and settled down in the sand, simply leaning against one another. Finally, they had found a moment of rest after so many long years spent running, simply relieved to be alive.

The sting of salt spraying off the waves and into the ocean wind invigorated Armin. Every sensation made it just that one step more real, that one fact proving that all this was really happening. He thought of candles in the dark of night and the comforting smell of old paper from hidden books. He thought of alleyways and the bruising harshness of childhood, remembering every name they ever called him as he was cornered.

Waves swirled around him, relentless in their path, much like he had become out of necessity. But that struggle was over. He sighed and sunk back against Jean's solid frame, swaying slightly in the waist high water. For a boy once taunted as timid, here he stood as victorious and relentless as this vast ocean.

He tugged on Jean's shirt sleeve with mischievous hope in his eyes. Jean turned to him and responded with a forceful kiss full of a sort of longing that seemed to be pent up for a long time. They'd kissed many times previously, but this was different. Armin kissed like he had finally come home after a very long walk.

They fell into the water, still latched at the mouth, after a particularly strong wave crashed into them. Jean tried to crawl back into shallower water as best as he could while Armin refused to pull away for more than a quickly drawn breath. He climbed on top of the other, pining Jean down in the sand and pressing him back against the pliant ground. A few people in the vicinity jokingly cheered and hollered at the display. Eren in particular made a gagging gesture, but then laughed at them regardless, a reluctant fond smile for the two lost in their own world.

Armin finally broke away, hands clasped on either side of Jean's face. They were completely soaked with ocean water and covered with gritty sand sticking to them after they'd rolled partially onto dry land. Their matching grins were wide enough to split their faces in images of manic joy. Armin tossed his head back and shook the water from his long hair. Jean ran his sand covered hand through those stringy, golden locks and lost himself in the loving blue eyes gazing down at him. He needed nothing else but that.

No spectacle of nature could compare to the feeling of flying, provided by the words of love spoken like a secret against his mouth. The tide rushed in and crashed around them, washing the clinging sand away.  

_"what a beautiful face I have found in this place/ that is circling all around the sun_  
 _but for now we are young/ let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see"_

**Author's Note:**

> i've never written something so sappy before but i've been listening to a lot of Florence + the Machine lately  
> here's a playlist I made and listened to while I wrote this: [we can live beside the ocean](http://8tracks.com/theghostbusters/we-can-live-beside-the-ocean)  
> hey there I'm also on [tumblr](http://aarlertarmin.tumblr.com), send me prompts if yall want


End file.
